Little Rock baseball earned respect from LSU during regional
June 30 - July 6, 2025
This is a special guest column written by UA Little Rock alumnus Dean Caputa. He is a Louisiana native, graduating from UA Little Rock in 1989 with degrees in journalism and history. He also graduated from LSU, earning his education degree and certification, allowing him to teach high school history and journalism for the last 32 years. His inspiration for this article stems from the Little Rock vs. LSU baseball series during the Baton Rouge Regional at Alex Box Stadium, where his “two worlds” would collide.
Minutes following Little Rock’s Baton Rouge Regional loss to the LSU Tigers, a group of Trojan fans gathered at the corner of Nicholson and Skip Bertman Drive outside Alex Box Stadium. It was after midnight, Tuesday, June 2, and the humidity and lengthy game had taken its toll on both fan bases.
While awaiting permission to cross the very busy street as heavy traffic filed out of stadium parking lots, one Little Rock fan looked at another and asked aloud, “We did really good, didn’t we? We just took an LSU program with seven national titles to the brink.” They nodded in agreement.
A smaller group of LSU fans standing nearby added, “You know, you guys gave us everything we wanted this weekend. Little Rock played as well as any SEC team that has been here.”
The “brink.” That word was used frequently by Louisiana media following Little Rock’s departure from the Baton Rouge Regional.
“Little Rock takes LSU to the brink.”
“LSU on brink of elimination by Little Rock.”
“Tigers avoid the brink of elimination.”
And so it went. Little Rock was on the national sports map. The final game with No. 1-seeded LSU was the most watched baseball game of the 2025 regionals, and the second-most watched regional game of all time. And on this night, a maroon pin-striped jersey with “Trojans” written across the chest was not for the University of Southern California. It was for Little Rock baseball. And it was not lost on LSU fans and media.
Charles Hanagriff, who handles LSU pregame and postgame radio football duties, and hosts his own daily sports show on Baton Rouge 104.5 FM, said the Little Rock team was more than prepared for their visit to Alex Box Stadium, and appeared “unfazed in playing a legacy program.”
“I’ve been covering LSU baseball since the 1990s, and Alex Box Stadium usually overwhelms teams,” Hanagriff said. “Little Rock was not intimidated. They came to play, and played the game the right way. Except for LSU, I could see myself pulling for them. They did not look like a .500 ball club to me. Their hustle, execution, and grit greatly exceeded their record.”
New Orleans NBC affiliate, WDSU sports anchor Fletcher Mackel, said the eventual three-game matchup between LSU and Little Rock was David versus Goliath, “but this was that story on steroids.”
“I was inspired by the way Little Rock played,” Mackel said. “Games are not played on paper. For that team to be undermanned, the eighth-seed in their own conference tournament, with a losing record, on the road against one of the best programs in the country, and to take LSU to the brink of elimination, was insane.”
LSU All-American pitcher Ben McDonald, who performs color commentary for ESPN baseball, defined the Trojan effort the night they defeated LSU as “the little engine that could.”
In the last two weeks of a magical 2025 season, Little Rock baseball was more than an engine. It was a fighter jet leaping off an aircraft carrier at sea, winning eight of their last 10 games, including three consecutive against Rhode Island, Dallas-Baptist, and LSU. The Trojans scored 46 runs in their last four games, including 16 in two games against the Tigers in full view of a large billboard in right field that fans call “The Intimidator,” lauding the Tiger’s baseball prowess. Keep in mind, LSU has not lost a series in Baton Rouge this year, including to teams making their way to the Super Regional like the Tennessee Volunteers, West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Little Rock took LSU to the edge of fear.
LSU sports play-by-play radio announcer, Chris Blair, said he believed there was something special about Little Rock before a game was played in Baton Rouge. When learning Trojan head coach Chris Curry employed former LSU baseball coaching legend Skip Bertman’s “Hold the Rope” speech to win five-consecutive games in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, he knew it might be “a Cinderella story if there ever was one.”
“I thought it was interesting Coach Curry used Skip Bertman’s ‘Hold the Rope’ to win those five conference games to get to a regional, and then he finds himself in Baton Rouge playing LSU while Coach Bertman is watching from the press box,” Blair said. “But really, like many, I thought Little Rock would be lambs for the slaughter. It didn’t work out that way.”
In the beginning, many LSU fans saw Little Rock as pesky, not to be taken seriously, especially after losing the opening game, 7-0.
Little Rock fell into the loser’s bracket, drubbed and eliminated Rhode Island, 22-10 on Saturday, and then disposed of Dallas-Baptist early Sunday. Just under three hours after the DBU contest, Little Rock was set to play LSU a second time. Blair noted the Little Rock team never left the ball park between those games, ate their meal in the dugout, and played LSU in the night tilt in dirty uniforms worn earlier in the day.
“During pregame, I watched from the press box and commented to my color-guy, ‘If that’s not tough, I don’t know what is,’” Blair said referring to Little Rock’s determination.
Little Rock wrecked the Tigers, 10-4. Following the game, two Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper reporters were setting up their postgame show in front of the Trojan dugout. They overheard Little Rock coaches petitioning their best pitcher’s availability for Monday’s final game.
“They were going from one Little Rock player to another asking, ‘What can you give me tomorrow? Can you give me three outs?’” Advocate reporter Scott Rabalais said of Trojan coaches. “They knew they were close (to winning it all).”
Mackel wrote of the Trojan victory, it was “one of the most surprising upsets in LSU baseball history.”
Regardless of Monday’s outcome between Little Rock and LSU, Blair said he knew it would not be the last game for Tiger players. Would they go pro? Would they return to LSU? For Little Rock players, the Monday night contest might be the last game some would ever play in uniform.
“We talked about that during the broadcast of the game,” Blair said. “We knew Little Rock was fighting for their lives.”
Little Rock took an early 5-1 lead in their third meeting with LSU Monday night, but succumbed to the Tigers, 10-6. The numbers will forever sell to record books a “losing season,” but LSU fans and media did not bite on the obvious.
When the final pitch was thrown on Little Rock’s season, Blair announced on radio that LSU was the victor, reminded listeners of both team records, and finished his sentence with, “Frank Cuervo (Little Rock Athletic Director), give (Coach Curry) an extension and a raise, now!”
Little Rock Associate Athletic Director for Communications, Nate Olson, said the feeling he got leaving Alex Box Stadium following the Trojans’ Monday loss was, “as if LSU felt bad about beating us.”
Longtime SEC and LSU beat writer Glen Gilbeau of Tiger Rag Magazine wrote of the Baton Rouge Regional final, “Whew! LSU Finally Mashes Little Rock, 10-6, To Advance To Super Regional.” For LSU, it was a headline perfectly descriptive of relief at finally disposing of Little Rock.
After the game, Blair walked to his car, and spotted the Little Rock pitching coach, Brady Cox, with his wife and daughter. Blair introduced himself telling Cox, “What your guys did this weekend is the reason we play college sports.” It was the biggest compliment Blair could offer, and he has covered every powerful baseball program in the nation.
Walking out of Alex Box Stadium, many LSU fans applauded the Trojan team. Throughout the stadium, there were multiple conversations with fans in purple congratulating those in maroon for their team’s performance. And they meant it. One LSU fan was seen reaching out to a man wearing a gray “UALR” shirt, shook his hand, said, “Great game. I don’t think I want to play you guys again.” They both laughed.
Near one of stadium exits, a large group of Tiger fans surrounded and conversed with Trojan fans. They posed for pictures, shook hands, and wished the Little Rock audience well. One Tiger fan was overheard saying, “I’d love a (baseball) series with your team every year. I want ya’ll to come back.”
“That’s the kind of event that brings people together,” Rabalais said. “Little Rock’s performance at LSU is only going to help with their recruiting. And it should.”
In the northwest corner of Alex Box Stadium, Little Rock players slowly trudged toward the left field gate. As their feet left the field’s grassy surface and met concrete under the bleachers, they were met with applause by about 75 family and friends. There were hugs, handshakes, and a few tears. As Trojan players walked in uniform toward arched wrought iron gates to their waiting bus, their faces were tired. They had come so close to the unexpected in a short period.
“Little Rock was a hot team at the right time, and they gave a good account of themselves,” Rabalais said. “That’s what we love about baseball.”
Three Little Rock players made the All-Regional team, including third-baseman Ty Rhoades of Jonesboro, Arkansas, center fielder Zach Henry of Arlington, Texas, and first-baseman Angel Cano, who was also selected Most Outstanding Player.
On statewide radio Tuesday night June 3, Tiger head coach Jay Johnson was asked if LSU would consider robbing Little Rock of some players in the transfer portal. Johnson replied, “None of (the Little Rock players) are in the portal. So, the answer to that, right now, is no.” The fact the question was asked was interesting.
Curry and Johnson also traded compliments in the postgame press conference and in social media. Little Rock appreciated the way in which they were treated throughout their stay in Louisiana’s capitol city. LSU simply admired the Trojan fight, having played 10 games in 13 days on the road, three of which were against the Tigers.
“I told some players this is a weekend they will never forget,” Olson said four days following Little Rock’s exit from the NCAA Tournament. “They will remember these games, and this trip to Baton Rouge, when they are very old. Some may not realize it now, at age 19 or 21, but some of them do.”
Saturday, June 7, in the third inning of LSU’s Super Regional contest against West Virginia at Alex Box Stadium, McDonald took a moment to salute Little Rock baseball retracing the team losing 13 of their last 14 regular season games, and then “giving LSU everything they wanted.” The impression made by the Trojans lingered.
Blair said he was aware of Little Rock Athletics, mostly having seen the basketball team in Barton Coliseum in years past.
“I never paid attention to the Little Rock baseball team before this regional,” Blair said. “But next season, I promise you, I will.”
Photo Caption:
Fans of the UA Little Rock Baseball Team welcome the Trojans home after the team’s historic NCAA Tournament games.
Photo Credit:
Photo by Benjamin Krain
